Westlake Quarterback stories

PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles quarterback Nick Foles has pointed this out before: Texas is a big state. He pointed it out when the Eagles played Washington and Foles was asked if he knew Robert Griffin III in high school. He pointed it out when asked why so many players, and quarterbacks in particular, seem to be from the Lone Star State.

The Philadelphia Eagles will play host to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night in the first round of the NFL playoffs. The game will feature a quarterback duel between No. 9 from Westlake High in Austin, Texas, and ... No. 9 from Westlake High in Austin, Texas.

To understand how a single high school in an affluent community of Austin, Texas could produce -- a decade apart -- the two quarterbacks who face off Saturday night in the playoffs, it might help to know the way in which this extraordinary intersection of arms is being received back home.

If you're a high school football coach, and you're good, you get to watch your quarterback lead the team to a state title game. If you're a high school football coach, and you're really fortunate, you get to watch your quarterback play Division I on Saturdays.

As a long time high school football coach, Derek Long is accustomed to being pulled in different directions. There is this decision and that decision. That side and this side. But even the seemingly unflappable Long is more than a little conflicted as he prepares to watch two of his former players from Westlake High School in Austin, Tex.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles runs out of the pocket during a preseason game against the Carolina Panthers. Photo by ERIC HARTLINE View and purchase photos PHILADELPHIA - Westlake High in Austin, Texas has an enrollment of 2,500. The odds two quarterback-playing alums would square off in the NFL playoffs?

Drew Brees and Nick Foles do not know each other very well, but they appreciate the significance of their unlikely matchup when the Saints and Philadelphia Eagles face off Saturday in an NFC wild-card game. It's not every year two starting quarterbacks who played at the same high school meet in the playoffs.

PHILADELPHIA - Nick Foles and Drew Brees are separated by 10 years at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, but their legacies are intertwined at the school and now in the NFL. The quarterbacks will face each other in the NFC wild-card playoff round when Foles and the Eagles take on Brees and the New Orleans Saints at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday.

Philadelphia - As a long time high school football coach, Derek Long is accustomed to being pulled in different directions. There is this decision and that decision. That side and this side. But even the seemingly unflappable Long is more than a little conflicted as he prepares to watch two of his former players from Westlake High School in Austin, Tex.

New Orleans Saints' quarterback Drew Brees is scheduled to go head-to-head with Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Nick Foles, both leaders of the Chaparrals a decade apart-Brees in Westlake's Class of 1997 and Foles in the Class of 2007. The similarities between the quarterbacks don't end in high school.

By AP Associated Press ARLINGTON- There has been plenty of talk all week about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles facing Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints in an NFC Wild Card playoff Saturday at 7:10 pm. In Philadelphia. Both Brees and Foles played for Westlake High School.

Philadelphia * Ten years after Drew Brees led Westlake High School to the Texas state championship, Nick Foles came along and broke many of his passing records but couldn't deliver another title for the Austin-based school.

PHILADELPHIA - Ten years after Drew Brees led Westlake High to the Texas state championship, Nick Foles broke many of his passing records but couldn't deliver another title for the Austin-based school. The quarterbacks go head-to-head for the first time in the NFL with more at stake when Brees' Saints visit Foles' Eagles in an NFC wild-card game tonight.

"I'm going to be cheering for the offenses," former Westlake coach Derek Long told the New Orleans Times-Picayune this week. "I hope both quarterbacks throw seven touchdowns. They are both such special guys. I hate it that somebody has to lose, but if they can both just play real well and do well, then that's the best you can hope for in that situation."